


The Mutual Fascination of Misfits: Flashback

by offwhxte



Series: Misfits [5]
Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Angst, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, M/M, Older Aaron, Younger Spencer
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-23
Updated: 2017-04-23
Packaged: 2018-10-22 21:47:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,384
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10705779
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/offwhxte/pseuds/offwhxte
Summary: No one suspected a thing.





	The Mutual Fascination of Misfits: Flashback

**Author's Note:**

> Implied/referenced drug use--nothing too graphic or scary, but it's definitely angsty.

No one suspected a thing. Aaron was good at keeping his hands to himself, and Spencer was surprisingly great at his performance of a younger brother for an only child. Aaron was having a blast being in public with Spencer; there was no one either of them knew that would recognize them for what they were, and it gave him a sense of power. If only they could have traveled to Oregon or something. Virginia wasn't evolved enough to handle gay relationships, and if Aaron changed his clothing, he could pull off being a few years younger, and the opposite for Spencer.  

Spencer, however, was having a difficult time. Every woman, man, and child seemed to undress Aaron with their eyes everywhere they went. Aaron was obviously enjoying the attention, but Spencer was weary. He knew Aaron loved him. If he didn't, why would he bring him out here? Why would he sleep in the same bed and hold him as soon as he had the chance to? Regardless, his birthday was in three months and ten days, and as soon as that day rolled around, he promised never to let himself feel this distant from Aaron in public. Never again.  

They ate at diners, they walked on the beach, adventured the town as much as possible. Spencer had continually asked to go to every museum, and Aaron couldn't help but go. Seeing Spencer so happy made his heart flutter. The unfortunate part of that was that his heart wasn't fluttering all the time. In fact, before the trip, Spencer had been getting worse. Aaron sighed as Spencer pulled him into another museum. He didn't want to bring it up then, in fact he shouldn't, so he just let the younger boy run himself tired.   

"That was awesome!" Spencer cried, running out of the room of mirrors, tripping over his feet. "You go in there expecting your consciousness to differentiate which path is a mirror and which is an actual hallway, but then it just totally ruins your perception. Wow. Didn't you love it, Aar—Thomas?"  

Aaron smiled and nodded, ruffling Spencer's hair and watching as his happy face fell.   

"What's wrong?" He murmured, reaching to grab his partner's hands before jerking backward.  

"I'm fine, Sssss--Matthew," Aaron smiled as Spencer giggled and started off toward another ice cream stand. It was times like these that he realized that Spencer was still basically a kid. He was getting older, sure, but it felt worse when not only was he taking Spencer's love and care, he was taking his childhood. The end of his childhood, too, when things got worse. Of course, that may have been for the best. People like Spencer couldn't be alone with their thoughts for too long before things got bad. Aaron was alone when he was Spencer's age, and all he got from that was a not-so-brief drug addiction and several trips to several rehab centers. Spencer was different, of course, much smarter and lacking the physical strength to fight off the bullies that came with high school.  

Hours passed, and Spencer had fallen asleep in the passenger seat with a new hat he'd bought in a gift shop crooked on his head. Aaron drove with both hands on the wheel, his mind overcome with the worst thoughts possible. What had Spencer missed? What had he passed up to see Aaron every night? More importantly, what were those envelopes he had stacked up on his desk? 

Spencer stirred as he put the car in park, his hat falling into his lap as he sat forward with a start, "What?" 

"I don't know what I need," Aaron grumbled, opening the door and slamming it behind him. 

That was what woke Spencer up.  

March 21st, 1996. Spencer was 15 years old, entering high school as a kid already smarter than his grade. His nose was buried in textbooks in various languages and topics when his window slid open and a body fell in on its back. Spencer shot up from his bed and ran over to check for a concussion on Aaron before he was quickly shoved away. His back hit the sharp corner of his bed frame and he slid down to the floor.  

"Spencer, I..." Aaron crawled across the carpet and tried his best to coherently explain his panic, "I'm sorry, are you hurt?" 

"Doesn't matter," Spencer responded slowly, scanning over Aaron's face before pausing. "Your eyes." 

Aaron quirked an eyebrow and blinked for far too long. Spencer rolled up Aaron's left sleeve and gaped at the red insertion point near the crook of his elbow.  

"I... Don't worry, I read a book... I... One second," Spencer stood and ran into the bathroom that was attached to his room. He returned with a cold washcloth, medical soap that he'd snagged from the hospital training centers, and a few tablets of Tylenol. "It's not much, but it'll help for the pain and the blurriness you're probably feeling." 

Aaron mumbled under his breath as Spencer sterilized him. Once he was done, he held the back of his hand to the older man's forehead and sighed in relief. No fever. He most likely didn't have an infection.  

"Aaron, why did you--" Spencer stopped talking as a hand covered his mouth.  

"Stop. Just stop," Aaron said. "I didn't come here for you to ask questions. I wanted to come inside." 

Spencer nodded, wide eyes searching for any intent to harm him, but there was none. Just desperation. 

"I can't bring myself to kiss you," Aaron said slowly, his voice slurred, "I don't know what I need." 

Spencer considered talking, but with the hand over his mouth, he figured that would be the least smart thing he could do. Instead, he gently placed his hand on top of Aaron's and watched, waiting for whatever was going to happen next, feeling the blood from the wound on his back run down, warm on his skin. It was minor, he could patch it up once Aaron left.  

March 21st, 1996, 1:08 AM. The first time Aaron unknowingly put Spencer in a position to heal him and keep quiet about himself.  

Spencer meekly followed after Aaron, his hands in his pockets and his eyes locked on Aaron's arms. He had been acting weird. Was he craving? Had he slipped away sometime during the day? As soon as the door was unlocked, Spencer sprinted inside and picked up Aaron's bag, checking every small place that a drug addict would hide his stash—the last places anyone would look. Aaron stood in the doorway, his hand still holding the key that was still in the door, watching cautiously as Spencer pulled every pocket of his suitcase inside-out.  

"What are you doing?" 

"Where are they?" Spencer asked, defeated as he slumped on the ground and looked up to Aaron.  

"Where are what?" 

"The, uh..." Spencer made a gesture with his hands, an invisible syringe. "The drugs." 

"The drugs?" Aaron shook his head, "Spencer, I'm clean." 

"But you..." Spencer sighed and put his head in his hands, "Sorry, I thought... yeah. Sorry, I _thought_. I need to stop doing that." 

Aaron closed the door behind him and walked over to the boy crumpled on the carpet. "What's going on with you?" 

Spencer cringed. October 9th, 1996. The day before Spencer's 16th birthday. 

"Wait, sorry." The older man squatted next to him and placed a hand on Spencer's softly trembling shoulder. "Honey, what did I say?" 

Spencer shook his head, "I don't know, I'm sorry. Can't remember." 

"You remember everything." 

"Not everything," Spencer peeked out from behind his hands. 

"I'm not using again," he said gently, sighing as he sat down and crossed his legs over themselves, "I don't plan on making you do anything, and I certainly don't want you thinking that I want to do either of those things." 

"You closed the car door angrily and you said you didn't know what you needed, and I..." Spencer sighed and leaned forward, resting his forehead on Aaron's arm. "I don't know. I just freak out sometimes. Ignore me." 

Aaron's chest tightened. "I'd never ignore you." 

Spencer felt another date coming up his throat, but he held it back and let himself be pulled into the basket of Aaron's legs. "I know."


End file.
